Railway-guard-rail supplement



Juy 1 1924.

M. J. MCNAMARA RAILWAY GUARDRAIL SUPPLEMENT Filed Jun 12.

Lvllllkkllllll Patented July 1, 1924.

UNTED S T as;

MATTHEW J. MCNAMARA', or scnAN'roN, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIeNoR' 0F ONE-HALF TO JAMES B. FLEMING, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-GUARD-RAIL SUPPLEMENT. i

Appucation inea June 12, 192s. serial- No. 644,966.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1,-MATTHEW J. M0- NAMARA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and YState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Guard-Raill Supplements, of which the following is a specilication.

Among the principal objects which the present invention has in view are: to protect railway frog points from-wear; to reduce the maintenance expense incident to the replacement of the usual railway guards used in conjunction with railway frogs or crossings; 'and to simplify and cheapen the construction.

Drawings.

Figure 1 is a plan view of fragments of railway rails constructed and arranged as at a track branch or frog.

Figure 2- is sectional view on enlarged scale, the section being taken as o n the line 2k2 in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectionV showing the construction and arrangement of the track rail guardand supplement, when constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 4 is a perspective 4view of wedges used in conjunction with the guard rail and supplement as disclosed' inthe present invention.

Description, "As shown in the drawings, the supple, ment is rigidly attached to' guard rails such as indicated by the numera'l'9. The supplement consists primarily of a metal Wedge plate 10, the upper portion of which is chamfered to form the cam surface 11. The plate 10 is perforated at suitable intervals to receive in service, bolts 12. The bolts 12 are drawn tight by the usual nuts 13 which pass through the web of the guard rail 9 as can be seen best in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The end bolts 12 are also passed through the end opening slots 14 in wedge blocks 15 when the said blocks are used. It will be understood that these blocks are not essential to the operation of the plate 10 though beneficial to the installation thereof. When installed they are disposed as substantially shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, be-

ing driven between the web of the'guard rail A' i 9 andthe plate 10.

Heretofore, the frog points such as.i'ndi, cated in Fig. 1 bythe numeral 16 have been v protected by the use ofA guard rails, such as indicated by the numeral 9. Theserails have been held in service relation'fto the track rails 17 lat the inner side of the'track' by means of chairs l18 or other suitable devices.v Whatever the character ofthe device they have been secured in service upon the ties 19 in the manner shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The frogs 16 usually occur where the tracks are branching or where the track rails are curved., At such. points the. inner side of the outer rail of the intersecting tracks andthe outer side `of the guardrail 9 opposite the frog have taken the wear of Jthe flange of their respective wheels. i

The frogl and construction lconnected therewith are expensive; therefore when the wear onthe frog branchY of the tracks begins to endanger the traffic, theguard rail 9 is either movedoutwardoris replaced. The guard rails according'to the present construction are of a length vto correct any tendency of wheels to leave the tracks when approaching the frog branch. They are also ,mounted on the ties in a way thatsto read# just them; ation.

When usingy the present invention a relatively short platellO is Vemployed just sufriciently long to cover an area parallel with and of slightly greater length than the frog 16 and theadjacent sections ofjthe track rails. VWhen 'the plate l10 .is .installed in service-held by the lbolts 12, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the flange of the carrying wheel of the railway vehicle rides upon and slides down over the inclined surface 11 thereof, shifting the said wheel and the axle with which it is rigidly connected together with the wheel on the other side of the curve. The result of this is that the wheels are placed in position where the flange of the wheel approaching the frog 16 is held away from contact with the point of the said frog.

The plates 10 and the inclined surfaces 11 thereof are worn, but as they are worn the wedgesl, if employed in the installation, are driven between the extreme ends of the plates 10 and the web of theguard rail 9 with the result that the plate 10 is moved t0- proves to be a very costly operward the adjacent track rail' 17. lt the blocks are not used the worn plates l() can be replaced at a relatively slight expense by plates which vare not Worn, thus effecting a substantial saving to the Vroad equipped with said wear plates. v j l lVhile I have herein described the 'use of the supplement as applied to guard rails without specifying whether the 'same are new or old, it will be understcodthat the supplement is used most frequently with uard rails after the same have become worn. It will also be understood that while I have described the wed-ging members -used for shifting the working position of the supplement-plate, this is not essential to the funcl tioning of the invention.

Claims.

l. The combination .of a railway frogz a guard rail for said frogdisposed in'servlce opposite `said frog; and a supplement member therefor removably attached'thereto 1n service transversely alined with said frog and adapted for shifting the wheels of a train ina direction away from. said frog, said member having a chamfered surface extending lfrom a thin upper edge juxtaosed in service to said guard rail over which the Wheels of a train slide when resting` thereon. Y

. Q. The combination of a railway frog, a guard rail .for said frog disposed in service opposite said frog; a supplement member therefor removablyY attached thereto in service transversely alined with said frog and adapted for shifting the Wheels of a train in a direction away from said frog, said member having a chamfered surface extending from a thin upper edge juxtaposed in service to said guardrail over which the wheelsvof a train .slide when resting thereon; 'and means for removably securing said member to said .guard rail. y Y 3. The combination .of a railway frog, a guard rail for said ,frog disposed in service ov posite said frog; .a supplement member tlierefor removably attached thereto in lservice transversely alined with said frog and adapted for shifting the wheels of a train in a direction away from said frog, said member having a chamfered surface extending from a thin upper edge juxtaposed in service to said guard rail over which the wheels of 'a train slide when resting thereon; means for removably securing said member to said guard rail; and means for varying the position of said supplement to said guard rail. fi. The combination of a railway frog, a ,guard rail for said frog disposed in service opposite said frog;` a supplement member therefor removably attached thereto in service transversely alined with said frog and adapted for shifting the wheels of a train in a direction away from said frog, said member having a chamfered surface extending from a thin upper edge juxtaposed in service to said guardrail over which the wheels of a train `slide when resting thereon; means for removably securing said member to said 'guard rail; and means for varying'the position of said supplement to said guard rail, said means embodying spacing members of variable thickness for inter-position between said supplement member and said guard rail for changing the operating position of said supplement member.

-5. The combination of a railway frog; and means in advance thereof for alining thewheels of a railway vehicle therewith, Said means embodying an inverted wedgelike member for engaging the flanges of said WheelsY to cause the saidY flanges 'to slide `down sai-d wedge-like members to position out of line with the point of said frog.

T6. The combination of a railway frog; means in advance thereof for alining the Wheels of a railway vehicle therewith, said means embodying an inverted wedge-like member for engaging the iianges of said wheels to cause the said flanges to slide down said wedge-like members. to position out of line with the point of said frog; and means for removably securingV said wedge-like member in service position.

MATTHEW J. MCNAMARA. 

